Speaker enclosure

ABSTRACT

A speaker enclosure including an elongated upright hollow housing having a sound reinforcing port in a bottom panel thereof with the interior of the housing being substantially unobstructed between a speaker element mounted in the upper part thereof and the bottom panel. The housing is supported with the bottom panel in spaced relation to a supporting surface and with the port in communication with ambient air.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,815,707

Burhoe June 11, 1974 SPEAKER ENCLOSURE 143,597 9/1951 Great Britain181/31 1; Inventor: Winslow N- Burhoe yp 927,458 5/1963 Great Bntaml8l/3l B Mass.

[73] Assignee: Epicure Products, lnc., Primary Examine"'st ephen TomskyNewburyport Mass /S4H0rney,k/l1gent, or Fzrm-James W. Pearce; Roy F.

h 22 Filed: Dec. 8, 1972 c aeper M [2]] Appl. No.: 313,456

52 us. (:1 181/199 [57] ABSTRACT lil 126 112'uaa'iiiiiiiiiiii5195137991.?235 3 n nnnnknn nnnlnnnnn including nlnngnndnn hollow housmg havmg a sound remforcmg port 1n a nn t:2:5321:32;$211;inztsriistis iizzvsi; 25:51:? UNITED STATES PATENTS element mounted inthe upper part thereof and the 1,778,693 lO/l930 Semple, Jr 181/3] Bbottom panel housing is upported the bot- 2310448 10/]957 Duck tom panelin spaced relation to a supporting surface 3,371,742 3/1968 NOI'IOI'I618] 181/3 B and the p in communication ambient air.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 675,879 6/1966 Belgium 181/31 B 4Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJuu 1 1 m4 SHEET 10F 3 FIG: 1

PA'TE'N'TEDJuu 1 1 m4 SHEET 3 OF 3 FIG--3 SPEAKER ENCLOSURE Thisinvention relates to speaker enclosures or housings. More particularly,this invention relates to a speaker housinghaving bass note reinforcingportions in a lowerportion of the housing.

An object of this invention is to provide a speaker housing in whichalower plate of the housing cooperates with an underlying floor toreinforce bass notes produced by a speaker carried in the housing.

'Briefly, this invention provides a speaker housing which includes ahollow chamber in an upper portion of which a speaker cone is mounted.The lower end of the chamber is closed by a bottom plate which isparallel to a supporting surface and supported in spaced relation abovethe supporting surface. An opening in the bottom plate provides a bassreinforcing port; The portion of the bottom plate surrounding theopening cooperates with the supporting surface to provide a bassreinforcing air column. The chamber is unobstructed between the cone andthe bottom plate, and the air column inside the chamber also helpsreinforce the sound output of the speaker housing.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertainsfrom the following detailed description and the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a speaker housing constructed inaccordance with an embodiment of this invention, a fabric facing thereofbeing partly broken away;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the speaker housing shown in FIG.1, the fabric facing being partly broken away;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the speaker housing illustrated in FIGS.1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view in transverse section taken on the line 4--4 in FIG. 3.I

In the following detailed description and the drawings, like referencecharacters indicate like parts.

In FIGS. 14 inclusive is shown a speaker housing 11 constructed inaccordance with an embodiment of this invention. The housing 11 (FIG. 1)includes side panels 12, 13, 14 (FIG. 3) and 16, which can be similar inconstruction. Each side panel includes downwardly extending legportions, the leg portions of the side panel 12 being indicated at 112and 212. Leg portions of the side panel 13 are indicated at 113 and 213in FIG. 4. Leg portions of the side panel 14 are indicated at 114 and214. Leg portions of the side panel 16 are indicated at 116 and 216.

In the upper portion ofeach side panel is provided an outwardly facingopening, the opening in the side panel 12 (FIG. 1) being indicated at312 in FIG. 1. Th opening in the side panel 13 is indicated at 313, theopening in the side panel 14 (FIG. 4) is indicatedat 314, and theopening in the side panel 16 (FIG. 2) is indicated at 316. Upright orside edges of the side panels are mitered and attached together to forma box-like enclosure. A top panel 18 is attached to the upper ends ofthe side panels to close the top of the housing 11. A bottom panel 19 ismounted between the side panels 12, 13, 14 and 16 above the leg portionsthereof. Edges of the bottom panel are received in slots (FIG. 4) in theside panels, the slot in the side panel 14 being indicated at 414. Thebottom panel is provided with a central port opening or bore 22 with thebottom panel 19 being supported in spaced relation to a supportingsurface or floor 221 (FIGS. 2 and 4) on which the speaker housing 11stands.

Annular speaker mounting boards 23 and 24 (FIG. 4) are attached to theinner faces of the side panels 12 and 14, overlying the openings 312 and314, respectively. Speaker cones or elements 26 and 27 are mounted onthe speaker mounting boards 23 and 24, respectively. Opening coverboards 28 and 29 are attached to the inner faces of the side panels 13and 16 to cover and close the openings 313 and 316 thereof. The interiorof the housing 11 is unobstructed between the speaker cones 26 and 27and the bottom panel 19, as'indicated most clearly in FIG. 4. Anappropriate sound transmitting decorative fabric outer facing 31 (FIGS.1 and 2) can be attached to outer faces of the side panels.

When the speaker cones are energized, the speaker housing provides aplurality of sound reinforcing air columns. A first sound reinforcingair column is provided inside the housing between the bottom panel 19and the top panel 18. A second sound reinforcing air column is providedinside the opening 22 in the bottom panel 19. A third sound reinforcingair colum is provided between the bottom panel 19 and the floor 221.These air columns can be tuned by varying the dimensions of the speakerhousing, the diameter or size of the opening 22 in the bottom panel 19,the area of the bottom panel 19 surrounding the opening 22, thethickness of the bottom panel 19 and the height of the legs or height ofthe bottom panel 19 above the floor 221. All of these air columns are incommunication with ambient air and provide response surrounding thespeaker housing because the port opening 22 isin communication with airsurrounding the housing through spaces between the leg portions of theside panels.

The speaker housing dimensions can vary over wide ranges depending onthe type of frequencies which it is desired to reinforce and the spacedemands of a room or the like in which the speaker housing is mounted. Atypical speaker housing of my invention, which is shown in the drawings,can be approximately thirty-two inches tall with the bottom panel 19being l/2 inch thick with a circular opening 22 of a diameter of 5inches being provided centrally thereof and the width of each of theside panels being 8 1/2 inches, and the height of the lower face of thebottom panel 19 above the floor 221 being 1 inch. This speaker housingprovides an excellent reinforcement of audible base notes.

The speaker housing shown in the drawings and described above includestwo cones mounted on opposite side panels of the housing. However, ifdesired, additional speaker cones can be mounted on the other sidepanels at the openings thereof. The mountings of the additional speakercones can be similar to the mounting of the speaker cones shown. On theother hand, a single speaker cone can be employed instead of the twospeaker cones shown.

The side panels and the top and bottom panels can be attached togetheradhesively. The speaker cones can be attached to the speaker boards 23and 24 adhesively or by use of appropriate fasteners (not shown), andthe speaker mounting boards can be adhesively attached to the innerfaces of the side panels.

Although the height of the bottom panel 19 above the floor 221 in theillustrated embodiment of the invention is approximately 1 inch, thespacing of the bottom panel above the floor 221 can be varied by varyingthe length of the leg portions of the side panels. Good results in theaudible range have been secured with speaker housings in which theheight of the bottom panel above the floor is as great as 2 inches or aslittle as 1/8 inch and for heights within this range.

The speaker housing construction illustrated in the drawings anddescribed above is subject to structural modification without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby letters patent is:

l. A speaker enclosure which comprises an elongated upright hollowhousing having side panels and a top panel attached to the side panelsand closing the top of the housing, four side panels each having anopening adjacent said top panel, means for supporting a pair of speakerelements in an upper portion of the housing, each in registry with anopening in a respective side panel of a first pair of side panels, asecond pair of side panels, a pair of cover boards each substantiallythinner than a respective side panel and closing the opening in arespective side panel of said second pair. the housing including abottom panel extending transversely of the housing and closing a lowerend of the housing. there being a sound reinforcing port in the bottompanel with the interior of the housing being substantially unobstructedbetween the speaker element and the bottom panel, and means forsupporting the housing with the bottom panel in spaced relation to asupporting surface and with the port in communication with ambient air.

the supporting surface.

1. A speaker enclosure which comprises an elongated upright hollowhousing having side panels and a top panel attached to the side panelsand closing the top of the housing, four side panels each having anopening adjacent said top panel, means for supporting a pair of speakerelements in an upper portion of the housing, each in registry with anopening in a respective side panel of a first pair of side panels, asecond pair of side panels, a pair of cover boards each substantiallythinner than a respective side panel and closing the opening in arespective side panel of said second pair, the housing including abottom panel extending transversely of the housing and closing a lowerend of the housing, there being a sound reinforcing port in the bottompanel with the interior of the housing being substantially unobstructedbetween the speaker element and the bottom panel, and means forsupporting the housing with the bottom panel in spaced relation to asupporting surface and with the port in communication with ambient air.2. A speaker enclosure as in claim 1 wherein the housing supportingmeans supports the housing with the bottom panel parallel to thesupporting surface.
 3. A speaker enclosure as in claim 2 wherein thehousing supporting means supports the housing with the bottom panelspaced between 1/8 inch and 2 inches above the supporting surface.
 4. Aspeaker enclosure as in claim 2 wherein the housing supporting meanssupports the housing with the bottom panel spaced approximately one inchabove the supporting surface.